


Order Up

by lil_utterance (persephone_flees)



Category: True Blood
Genre: F/F, Five Times
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-28
Updated: 2009-12-28
Packaged: 2017-10-05 09:57:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/40429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/persephone_flees/pseuds/lil_utterance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five times Sookie and Pam didn't drink together, and one time they did.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Order Up

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers for episode 1x09. Additionally, a few character histories/descriptions from books 1-7 are obliquely referenced.

I. Ginger Ale

"You look disturbed. Care to share?"

Sookie forced her gaze away from the departing girl and back to the female vampire standing in front of her. She tried to block out the thought that it would have been a much better sign if refocusing on Pam had proved a more difficult task. "How can you do that to her?" she asked. "I know y'all are still having troubling accepting that we're more than just your walking buffet, but Ginger-"

"Is happier not remembering," Pam said, voice low and smooth. Her tone had warmed considerably from the one she had used in the presence of the mind-wiped fang-banger moments before, but Sookie felt no reassurance. Any warmth issuing from Pam's mouth only served as one more chilling reminder as to the temperature she preferred her drinks.

"How can you know that?" Sookie asked. "I bet you didn't even give her the choice."

Pam laughed. "And what? You think we're being kinder to you by allowing you to remember this little incident?" She leaned forward and splayed a cool hand across Sookie's ribcage, her thumb tracing the underwire of the other woman's red-soaked bra. "You know, what you're steeped in isn't comprised of synthetics."

"I'm not denying what happened to Long Shadow," Sookie said. She tilted her face upwards and tried to ignore the pressure of Pam's fingers on her skin. "But I do know that he forced us into a kill or be killed situation. I know he-"

Pam shook her head dismissively. "You know nothing." She paused, pursing her lips and eyeing Sookie thoughtfully. "Although…"

Sookie rolled her eyes. "What? Did you find some more vampire to pull out of my cleavage?" She had thought the comment might offend, but Pam merely laughed and let her fingernails trail against Sookie's abdomen before dropping her hand.

"Sweetheart," Pam said. "I don't consider myself coy, and I _never_ need excuses. When I want you, I'll tell you."

Sookie felt the breath whoosh out of her, but managed a weak smile. "Can I ask you a question?"

"You may."

"Is being uncomfortably direct a quality that originated with you, or with Eric?"

Pam's smile widened. "Just think of it as one reason why the two of us get on so well. You live as long as we do, and you realize…" she stepped forwards and lightly molded herself against Sookie's curves. Her lips brushed the shorter woman's left ear as she whispered, "Prevarication is boring."

Sookie closed her eyes and braced herself.

When she finally dared to peek, Pam was gone. She stood alone in the blood soaked bathroom, her only clothing options consisting of dripping-red cotton and leather.

Thinking of Pam, she started to pull on the leather.

II. Sweet Tea

"Don't you just look good enough to eat."

"I wish you'd find some other waitress to stalk," Sookie said to Eric as he materialized from between two of the faded pickups in the parking lot. "You might not be that popular here, but any bar besides Merlotte's, you'd have your pick of willing companions." This little speech did her as much good as all of its earlier versions had done; which is to say, no good at all.

"Where's your boyfriend?" Eric asked, activating the selective hearing he used so well. "I haven't heard tiresome speeches about how much you're 'his' for awhile now."

"For the last time," Sookie said, annoyed. "I belong to no one but my-"

"-boyfriend," Pam said as she walked up to join them. She blithely ignored the glare Sookie directed her way. "Good to know you've finally gotten the system down. Humans do tend to have such a problem with our hierarchy." She turned to Eric. "We had a bit of company from New Orleans drop in this evening."

"Oh?"

"Yes. I set them up with the freest of the drinks, but your supervision might smooth the process and avoid the unnecessary complications that always seem to crop up with this particular set of guests."

"Another promising evening ruined." Eric sighed. "I trust you'll see our investment safely home."

"As you command," Pam said. "I'll meet you back at Fangtasia in an hour."

Sookie didn't even try to protest when Pam followed her to her car. As had already been demonstrated this very evening, with this crowd protests and deaf ears went hand-in-hand. However, she did remain stubbornly silent.

Pam seemed to get the game, but didn't seem to mind. She didn't break the silence until they were halfway back to Sookie's home. "You are consistent with your disregard for your personal safety," she observed. "It's rather naughty, actually. I'm sure Bill's done no end of lecturing about the trouble you'll make for yourself by hanging around our kind while unclaimed."

"I don't see why the hang-ups of your community should have such an impact on my personal life."

"I'm sorry," Pam said. "You're right. I'm sure explaining that logic to every vampire you meet will effectively cancel out hundreds of years of tradition."

If Sookie had been the type of girl who allowed herself to swear, that's exactly what she would have done. Perhaps even should have done. Stupid vampires, with their unholier-than-thou attitudes and the need to subdue every human they came in contact with. Eric in particular was being a real pain in her butt, and here was his girlfriend or post-life partner or whatever she even called herself, completely unconcerned, arguing that vampires would be vampires.

"Do you ever worry about how Eric's obsession with me might affect your relationship?" Sookie asked. Before she opened her mouth she knew it was a question conceived out of spite—and probably knew the depth of its ridiculousness even before Pam's raised eyebrow.

_Oh honey_, that look said, _you're several centuries shy of being considered a credible threat, let alone competition._

"Fine," Sookie muttered. "Pretend I never asked."

"Well, if you're not done flattering yourself," Pam said, "you might be gratified to know that you are involved in a competition of favors."

"I'm not sure I understand."

"It's of no consequence. I'd just ask you to remember," Pam flipped down the overhead visor, checked the mirror, and adjusted her sweater, "I'm the more reasonable of the two of us, and I'm equally good in bed."

"Please stop talking."

Pam shrugged. "I just thought, as you profess to enjoy choices, you'd want to know all your options. I mean, I'm sure Eric would even be perfectly willing to share-"

Sookie slammed on the brakes. "Get out. Of my car. Now."

"Ah," Pam said, "you really do have such potential." She peered ahead in the dark for a moment. Seemingly satisfied with the proximity of Sookie's driveway she opened the door and slid out of the car.

When the door clicked shut, Sookie was finally, blessedly, alone once again in the dark.

III. Cherry Coke

"We found him out back. You're fortunate he's not completely drained," Pam said.

Sookie found it surprisingly difficult not to kick her semi-conscious brother. "That's a matter of opinion. After he's given me such a hard time about my relationship with Bill, he's got a lot of nerve acting like such a low-rent, no account-"

"Aw, don't be mad, Sookie," Jason mumbled. "I jus' came here looking for you an'-"

"Jason Stackhouse, don't even think about talking to me right now. I know exactly why you're here." Her brother. The V addict. Even in his confused state, she could pull that much out of his mind.

"How many of the vampires in Fangtasia know about his habit?" she asked Pam.

"Too many for his own good. This stupid boy doesn't have a subtle bone in his soon to be dead body," Pam said acerbically. "Frankly, I'm surprised anyone would even stoop to drinking him. If he wasn't your brother, Eric probably would have simply killed him outright, rather than throwing him outside."

Sookie hated when she had to admit that Eric was right, but she couldn't blame him for his actions. Jason had gotten exactly what he deserved. Even if a vampire who would feed on a human high on V was surely one sad specimen of the undead. She sighed.

"Thank you for calling me," she said to Pam. "I owe you and Eric for this."

"I know." Pam studied Jason with distaste. "I also knew from the moment I saw this one that he was nothing like you." She shook her head. "Such a pity."

"What was a pity? His lack of telepathy or common sense?"

"Both. And neither." For once, Pam seemed to struggle for words. "He didn't have your curiosity. Your lack of fear. Your," her nostrils flared, "smell."

"My smell," Sookie said flatly.

"Oh yes. You were – are – very," Pam sniffed appreciatively, "fresh."

Oh, for Pete's sake. Apparently vampires and human men had something in common when it came to their regard for her: they all viewed her as a piece of meat.

"Pardon me if I'm not exactly flattered by the description," Sookie said.

"Fine," Pam said. "You have my pardon. Though I had thought you intelligent enough to appreciate the compliment." She turned to go back inside. "I'd keep your brother away from here in the future," she said over her shoulder. "I can't promise they'll be anymore calls if this happens again."

"I understand," Sookie said. As she watched Pam go back inside, she realized that somehow she had to manage to get a very lightheaded brother back into her car. However, being smarter than said brother, she knew enough not to call into the bar for help.

IV. Bloody Mary

Sookie stared dispiritedly at her reflection in the mirror. She couldn't quite believe it, but she sort of missed the leather. If only her clothes had gotten shredded at Fangtasia. But these days she not only didn't get to pick her own battles, she also had absolutely no control over their location.

"I brought you a brush," Pam said as she walked in the door. She placed the heavy, silver handled object into Sookie's outstretched hand, then studied her own reflection above the blonde's head. And smiled. "We make quite the pair."

Sookie didn't respond as she started to brush her hair in short, impatient strokes, but secretly she agreed. Her own hair was still a tousled mess from battle, and she sported a rather nasty gash across her right cheek. Pam evidenced all her usual post blood-lust signs—extended fangs, red-tinted mouth. The vampire didn't even seem conscious of the fact that every few minutes her tongue extended for a delicate swipe of the residue on her lips.

By themselves, these characteristics reflected back from a bedroom mirror might not even faze Sookie anymore. After all, she'd seen an awful lot in the last year.

No, what made their reflections so unsettling was the way their clothing offset the battle scars. It looked like June Cleaver had loaned her wardrobe to the cast of Xena Warrior Princess.

Both she and Pam wore soft, pastel sweaters of an identical cut. They differed only in color: Sookie sported a garment of robins-egg blue, Pam one of cotton-candy pink. Each of them also wore a pair of fitted slacks; Sookie had never realized waistbands could go this high. As she watched in the mirror, Pam fastened a string of ivory pearls around her neck.

"There," Pam said with some degree of satisfaction. "Much better." Looking up, she noticed Sookie's scrutiny. "I hope you're not wanting a necklace," she said, straightening her own. "I never share jewelry."

"Hadn't even crossed my mind."

Pam frowned. "You've stopped brushing your hair." She took the brush out of Sookie's hands. "Here, let me."

Sookie felt herself relaxing into each slow stroke of the brush. She tried to remind herself that this should not be so soothing, that this was not Bill trying to reassure her before they made love, that this did not constitute foreplay…

A soft sigh escaped her anyway.

"I'll admit, I expected more from a human who can't be glamoured," Pam said. She put the brush down on the vanity in front of them, and picked up a length of blue ribbon. With deft fingers, she began weaving it into Sookie's hair. "It's probably good you're immune to some of our charms if you're this easy to please otherwise. Personally, I prefer more of a challenge."

"I'll keep that in mind," Sookie said dryly.

"There," Pam said, patting the top of Sookie's head and admiring her handiwork. "You know, I would never have guessed dressing a human could be so entertaining. I really don't think I'd mind if your clothing got destroyed more often."

"Well, I would," Sookie said. "I can barely afford to replace items at the rate I lose them now. Besides, if I'm going to become your doll, I think I prefer the vamp garb."

"Your preferences are irrelevant. Not that the leather didn't suit you – I've certainly seen you in worse – but I don't keep those outfits at home."

"Dry-cleaning bill get unmanageable?"

"Hardly. It's just extremely inconvenient to wear such clothing outside Fangtasia. When I wear leather, it's almost impossible to blend into a crowd."

Sookie took in Pam's super-pale skin, incredible beauty, and slowly retracting fangs; she found herself wondering exactly when the vampire behind her thought she ever managed to blend into a crowd.

"You're bleeding again."

"What?" Sookie asked. A closer look in the mirror and the question became irrelevant. The cut on her face had opened again. "Oh, darn it. Do you have a Kleenex?"

Pam smiled. "I don't think that will be necessary." Slowly, holding Sookie's gaze in the mirror the whole time, Pam leaned forward and pressed her lips against Sookie's cheek.

Sookie found herself gripping the edge of the vanity in front of her as Pam's tongue leisurely removed all vestiges of blood from the cut. The picture in the mirror before her had gotten no less perverse. The clothes they were wearing still said 'lets compare cake recipes', but the blood and the fangs and Pam's arm around her waist and their proximity in general said something else altogether.

She wished she didn't find it all quite so exciting.

V. Mountain Dew

Sookie had taken some of Bill's blood relatively recently, which probably explained how she managed to hear Pam walk up behind her.

"Tell Eric he can hold his horses for one damn night," Sookie snapped.

"Making Eric wait is usually unwise."

"Dealing with Eric at all is usually unwise. With him, one never wins, and I need tonight off. At least by sending this message through you, I won't have to worry about him killing the messenger."

"True," Pam said agreeably. "But if this is supposed to be a balm for your conscience, it's a very simplistic view of his reaction. He'll most likely take his frustration out on someone else. And that will be equally your fault." She crouched down in the dew-covered grass beside Sookie. "What is worth displeasing Eric thus?"

Sookie pointed to the headstone. "I'm mourning my grandmother. Didn't you ever, while you were alive, mourn someone? Visit a graveyard for reasons other than a second birth?"

"No."

"Well, how fortunate for you." Sookie swiped at a few of the tears that slid down her face. "Now that you've explained your lack of mourning experience, could you please go away and let me continue my own?"

"I died before my family members, but that doesn't mean that I didn't mourn them in a graveyard," Pam said stiffly. "I woke up in a graveyard. I learned I couldn't go back to them in a graveyard. It might not be the mourning that you want me to understand, but you are being unfair in claiming that I have no way of relating to your situation."

Sookie considered this for a moment, absently wiping some dirt off the gravestone and straightening the flowers she had added this afternoon. "I'm sorry," she finally said. "You're right. I assumed too much about your distance from life."

"No, you were right about my distance from life. I have a hard time remembering my family, or the grief I felt immediately after waking up dead. But you still assumed too much."

"About?"

"My distance from death. You don't think I'll miss Eric if he goes before me?"

"Honestly?" Sookie said. "I'm not sure how to answer that question. Would you mourn him?"

"Not in the human sense of the word, no. But I would move my resting place."

"You rest together now?"

Pam nodded. "And though I'm not sure exactly how I'll _feel_ when he is no longer here, I recognize I wouldn't rest peacefully in our place, knowing I'd wake up there alone."

"I understand," Sookie said, surprised to realize that she actually did. The two of them sat in silence for several moments, before Pam eyed her curiously.

"Do you sleep well in the house of your dead grandmother?" she asked.

"Yes," Sookie said simply. She searched for an explanation she thought might be clearer to the vampire beside her. "It still smells like her."

"I too understand. Which is…" Pam got to her feet. "Worrisome. I'm not convinced I desire to understand the living."

"Then go be dead," Sookie said. "And leave me to mourn alone."

VI. TruBlood

"Hey, Sook," Lafayette called. "Order up."

Sookie walked over to the counter and added the two orders of fries to a tray that was already weighted down with an assortment of mixed drinks, soda, and, of course, beer. As she ferried the items to their destinations, she found it hard not to drop everything on the floor in the hopes that in the aftermath of the crash there would be one itty-bitty moment of silence. She could barely manage to block anything out tonight.

_(bitch forgot my cherry coke…_

_if I order another drink will he know or does he already know and how will I ever…_

_maybe I can sneak out tonight…that dog just won't hunt, and I really need to…"_

_betcha they don't even check for ID here, one of the few benefits of being in the sticks…)_

Two weeks ago, Bill had pulled yet another of his disappearing acts. She didn't know how much longer she could handle them, these absences, hardly forewarned and never described. Sometime in the last year she'd stopped seeing a vampire and started dating a ghost. It was maddening. And the other voices didn't help.

She turned to the man seated at the table on her right. "I'll get you your damn cherry coke in a minute," she said, not much surprised when he jumped. After all, there's no way he could have known that she'd heard the way he insulted her parentage when she'd forgotten the refill on his soda. No, he'd been very polite, only _thinking_ that she came from a long line of white trash.

It was going to be a long night.

When she felt the pinpoint of silence, she almost groaned aloud. Not that serving someone without a stream-of-consciousness soundtrack wouldn't be a nice change of pace, but undead patrons in Merlotte's didn't tend to signal the beginning of a quiet evening. The morons would soon show themselves in full force.

Then she turned to look at their guest—and forgot about everyone else in the bar.

She walked over to the vampire's table. "What are you doing here?"

"Trying to order a drink." Pam coolly surveyed the bar and re-crossed her legs. She looked up at Sookie. "Aren't you supposed to be serving me?"

Sookie decided that she should institute a new policy of ignoring anyone that didn't breathe. They were more trouble than she had time for. She pasted a fake smile on her face. "Welcome to Merlotte's. What can I get for you?"

"I'd settle for a different expression."

"Pam, I'm low on patience and I've got a boss who hates vampires. Please don't make me use him."

"Fine." Pam fingered the menu. It was only in this moment of hesitation that Sookie realized the vampire wasn't wearing her usual sweater set ensemble, but rather a version of the leather outfit she'd lent out months before. "I'll have a Trublood, please. Any type will do."

Sookie studied her for a moment and came to a decision. "No."

"No?"

"I know that's not what you want."

"Oh? And you know that from what?" Pam mocked. "Reading my mind?"

"I don't have to," Sookie said quietly.

They stared at each other for a full minute. Sookie thought she might have heard her name called from across the sea of tables, but she ignored it. She really wanted to see what Pam would do next.

"Meet me outside when you're finished here." Pam gave the order as if giving a dare. When she leaned forward, the creaminess of revealed skin contrasted pleasantly against the leather that encased her. "I'll wait for you."

Sookie tried not to let herself be mesmerized by either the words or the movements of the other woman. She reminded herself that mere weeks ago, this wouldn't have even been an issue. Or, she amended, not _much_ of an issue.

"Alright," Sookie finally said. "I get off at two. I'll look for you."

She thought the defiant tilt of her chin managed to cover most of her misgivings. She hoped Sam wouldn't keep his porch light on tonight. Not only did she want to avoid having to examine this decision in the light of day, she'd prefer to not even have to look at it under the weak glare of a friend's porch light. She really didn't want common sense to interfere and change her mind.

The second half of evening dragged as much as the first, though the few minutes of quiet she had spent in Pam's presence seemed to dampen most of the tray-dropping impulses that had accompanied her earlier headache. Her walls were back up.

A fact she reminded herself of when she stepped outside at two-fifteen in the morning.

She had no trouble finding Pam. The vampire had perched herself on the trunk of Sookie's car, a brown paper sack in her hand. Even with the leather outfit, in the shadows she actually appeared to belong in the bar's parking lot. It was a weird thought.

"I didn't want to appear ungrateful," Pam said, holding the sack out to Sookie as she walked up to the car.

Sookie peered in the sack. Bourbon. Really, really good bourbon. "I don't want to drink," she said.

"I imagine you frequently don't drink because of people," Pam said. She reached forward and brushed wisps of Sookie's hair back into her ponytail, then lowered her finger until it pressed against Sookie's mouth. "I'm not people." She smiled slowly, deliciously. "You can't hear me."

"I-" Sookie's voice was muffled by the press of fingers.

"Drink," Pam said, nodding at the bottle. She removed her hand from Sookie's mouth and leaned back on the trunk. "I'll watch."

Sookie couldn't quite believe her body's reaction to the order, but it wasn't very difficult to interpret. She felt disinclined to argue the matter further, so she moved to join Pam on the trunk of the car. Once she was settled, she twisted the cap off the bottle and raised it to her lips. Glancing one more time at Pam, she titled the bottle upwards and drank.

Each mouthful tasted golden and sweet, like sunshine. Like silence. Her senses felt heightened, each swish of the liquid in her mouth and throat velvety-smooth with just the tiniest hint of a sting. She'd never been so aware of swallowing.

She'd also never been so aware of someone else watching her swallow.

Finally, finally, she came up for air.

"Better?" Pam asked.

Sookie nodded. The world felt slightly off-kilter, wondrous and quiet. She licked some bourbon off her lips and laughed. When Pam's arm slid around her, she boldly swung her legs across the vampire's lap.

"Are you still offering that drink?" Pam's index finger traced patterns on Sookie's hip.

Sookie gathered her hair with one hand and swept it across her shoulder, leaving the side of her neck nearest to Pam completely bare. "Order up," she said.

And Pam served herself, teeth piercing Sookie's flesh, lips moving over skin. As she sucked in the first mouthful of blood, she slid two fingers beneath Sookie's apron and the waistband of her shorts. As the fingers pressed upwards and inwards, Sookie inhaled sharply. With each subsequent gasp, she could taste the sweetness of her earlier drink and smell the coppery tang of Pam's own. The sweet and salty mixture blurred, blended, and, abandoning restraint, Sookie let her head fall back and drank in the pleasure.


End file.
